Sex Scandals and Their Cost

The golfer Tiger Woods, who some years ago was considered to be the best in the world, was caught by his wife — and most importantly, by the tabloid press — during an act of infidelity. In his attempt to save his marriage, he wrote a check for $300 million, which was not enough to make his wife forgive, much less forget.

The final price he had to pay was enormous; many of his advertisers and sponsors cancelled their contracts.

Speaking of high prices, what has been paid by the actor-turned-politician Arnold Schwarzenegger was even higher. Apart from his divorce from Maria Shriver (who belongs to the Kennedy clan, which, by the way, does not want to have anything to do with him), his career seems to have come to an end (maybe he will try to become a porn star, which I doubt).

The former managing director of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, lost his job, the chance to become the next president of France and went to trial for several felonies that include his alleged participation in a prostitution ring.

Now, someone who was once a promising figure in U.S. politics, former senator and ex-presidential candidate John Edwards, is currently on trial facing charges of using campaign funds to help hide an affair (and a son) while his wife was battling cancer, a battle she ended up losing.

Some have survived, as did former president Clinton, who became embroiled in a scandal when he was occupying the White House. In the past, the media used to have a strange whitewash code that helped several U.S. presidents. Eisenhower, a hero of World War II who later became president and served two terms, apparently had an affair — with his private secretary and chauffeur, Kay Summersby — that never appeared in the media. John Kennedy had many affairs while in the White House, including one with Marilyn Monroe, a sexy Hollywood superstar at that time.

In Italy, former president Silvio Berlusconi was accused of sponsoring wild sex parties, called “bunga bungas.” And since in Italy everything is done in the “Italian style,” none of that cost him his job. “The Knight,” a nickname given to Berlusconi in his country, lost the election due to the economic situation; the sexual situation was not important to the Italians because they love and forgive the “dolce vita.”

Social networks like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube help reveal almost everything under the sun (or the moon).

I personally think that the sexual affairs of any man or woman are matters that should not interest anyone except those directly involved. Except of course cases of sexual assault, the use of a position of power to obtain sexual favors, or the use of public funds should be exposed, and the perpetrators should be brought to justice.

A couple of weeks ago, the summit that brings together every president on the entire American continent was held in Cartagena; what will go down in history will not be the agreement reached by the leaders, but the behavior of some of the U.S. Secret Service agents, who demonstrated their lack of moral and good judgment by hiring prostitutes and then refusing to pay as agreed.

Moral: When it comes to sexual matters, it is not always the perpetrator who pays.